Calm Before the Storm
by Kutlessrocker
Summary: Kairi wakes up on the last day of school, unaware that her life would change in two, short days.  Slight SoKai and slight RiKai.  Part 5 of the "Hearts" series.  Dedicated to eolhcsullivan452.


Author's Note: A short, filler fic that I wrote based on an idea that I couldn't get out of my head. This story could take place in either my Hearts series, or eolhcsullivan452's "Stand There and Watch Me Burn" universe. Kairi's Reye's Syndrome mentioned in this story was mentioned in a flashback in STaWMB's later chapters. I asked premission to reference this story, and she allowed it. She's a good friend of mine, and if you like my work, you should check out hers as well. She's a far better writer than I am. Enjoy, friends...

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><p>A young, red-haired girl awoke to the sound of her alarm clock blaring in her ear. Half asleep, she fumbled around for the clock, hoping to silence the annoying sound. "Ugh, I want to sleep!" she grumbled to herself. It was six AM on the last day of school before summer break. Kairi was in no rush to wake up, but the thought of seeing Sora and Riku there was what gave her the will to go.<p>

She sat up on her bed, her feet touching the cold floor and chilling her body. Kairi shuffled to the bathroom to take her shower. The warm water removed the last bit of sleepiness she suffered from and relaxed her muscles. After the shower, she dried herself and searched for her favorite outfit while wrapped in a towel. Her short, crimson hair was drying in a towel as well. She finally found the clothes she was looking for: a black tank top with a white one to wear over it, a black choker collar, her favorite purple skirt with purple bike shorts to wear underneath, and a pair of oversized, white slip-on shoes. She put a yellow wristband on her left wrist and a violet-blue armband on her left biceps, and on her right arm, she put on a black bracelet and a yellow bracelet. Last, but not least, she put on her favorite teardrop necklace, the only thing she still had from her previous home.

Kairi didn't remember much about her hometown except for the smiling face of her grandmother and a story about Light and Darkness. She thought of it as just a fairy tale, an old legend about the founding of her homeworld, but that story stayed in her heart, nonetheless. She longed to know more about where she came from. At first, she felt like nothing more than an alien on the Destiny Islands, but quickly made so many wonderful friends. As much as she loved that world, she still desired to see where she was born and had lived the first four years of her life.

After dressing, she brushed her short hair and headed down the stairs to breakfast. She was greeted by her adoptive parents. "Goodmorning Kairi," her father said. He was the mayor of the town she lived in and had been kind enough to adopt her as his own.

"Goodmorning," she greeted as she sat down at the table. Her mother was at the stove, frying pancakes for the three of them.

"Are you ready for your last day of Middle School?" her mother asked. You could tell immediately that they weren't her real parents, but her mom looked most like her. Kairi's mother had long, red hair of a lighter shade than Kairi's blood-colored hair and eyes the color of the sky. Her father had short, brown hair and dark brown eyes. The stress of holding public office had caused him to age slightly, but he still looked near his age.

"I'm ready for it to be over with," she said as her mom laid a plate of pancakes in front of her and her father before making one for herself.

"You can stay home if you want," her father said.

"No, I want to go see my friends. We're supposed to take care of some things later, and we wanted to leave directly from school," she said. She hadn't told her parents about the raft that she, Sora, and Riku were building. Their parents wouldn't know until they were long gone. It seemed like a cruel way to let them know, but they knew their parents wouldn't let them go otherwise.

"Oh, those two boys," her father said. "When are you going to start dating one of them?"

Kairi blushed and held her head low. "You know it's not like that, dad," she said, embarrassed by the sudden question. "Sora and Riku are just friends, and that's all we'll ever be." That wasn't entirely true. They had been her best friends since she washed up on the beach. She loved both of them with all her heart, but lately, she'd been feeling something in particular toward Sora. She didn't know if it was love or what, but she definitely saw him differently than she had before. In the nine years she'd lived there, he treated her like a Princess. Kairi was truly grateful for a friend like him.

But she also felt things for Riku. It was different from what she felt for Sora, but still similar. Sora was the dear friend who could comfort her when she was in pain, while Riku was the strong, protective friend who would beat the crap out of whoever caused the pain Sora comforted. She could never choose between them.

"That's exactly what I said when your father and I were children," her mother said. "I never thought we'd be together, but here we are, happily married."

After she finished eating, Kairi left her house and started walking to her school. She was thankful that she didn't have to wear her uniform since it was the last day. She met up with Sora and Riku after a few blocks. Sora wore a red jumpsuit with a black and white jacket and white, fingerless gloves. He also wore oversized yellow shoes and his usual crown necklace. His brunette hair was spiked wildly. Riku's hair was tamer, but already gray despite the fact he was fifteen. He wore a yellow and black, sleeveless shirt and baggy jeans. He also wore blue and gray shoes and black gloves with black wristbands. His eyes were green like the sea. "Kairi, goodmorning," Sora said cheerfully with his trademark cheesy grin.

"Hey Kairi," Riku said.

"Hey guys," she replied.

"Are you feeling ok, Kai?" Sora asked with concern in his voice.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine," she said. Two weeks before, she'd developed Reye's Syndrome because of her blood thinner. Everyone thought she was going to die, but miraculously, she pulled through.

"Ok, but I'm just worried about you," he said. "I mean, you could have died, Kai. It scared me so much when they had to stop your heart."

"I was scared too, but I'm fine now," she said. Kairi was terrified when it happened. At only fourteen years old, she wasn't ready for her life to be over. She had so many people she loved that she didn't want to leave. "Are you guys ready to finish the raft today?"

"You mean am 'I' ready to finish the raft," Riku said. "I'm the only one who's been working on it so far. But at least you helped me braid the rope for the logs, Kai. Sora, you haven't done a thing."

Sora's grin turned upside down. "What's that supposed to mean?" he said, though he knew Riku didn't mean anything by that.

"Aww, you know you're always going to be my lazy bum, Sor," Kairi giggled. Her smile turned from a cheerful one to a serious smile as she reflected on the events of her near-death. "Sora, Riku, thank you both for being there for me when I almost died. I love you two so much." She walked between them and threw her arms around both of their shoulders, pulling them closer to her.

"We love you too, Kai," Riku said. "Hey, we're almost to the school." They walked to the building and went their separate ways for their classes. Kairi and Sora shared two classes, while Riku was with her for three. And they had the same lunch, so they could be together then. But that day, there would be no classes. They were only going to be there for half the day, and there would be nothing to do except hang out in the classrooms or the cafeteria.

After they had their day at the school, saying goodbye to their teachers and enjoying all the free food and satisfaction of 8th grade being over, they left for the island where they would always play. Only Kairi, Riku, Sora, and their friends Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka ever went to the island. It was that small circle's personal island. "So, what do you wanna do first?" Kairi asked as soon as they tied their boats to the dock.

"Hmm, I don't know," Sora said, putting his hands behind his head and jumping off the dock onto the pure-white sand. The ocean stretched out as far as the eye could see.

"Sora, why don't you just look for supplies for the raft," Riku said. "That's what I'm going to do. We still need a few logs and rope and a cloth for the sail. Tomorrow, we'll gather some food for the trip." Kairi couldn't help but smile when she thought of sailing to new worlds with her two best friends.

The three of them separated for the moment. Kairi went off to be in the secret place at the base of the treehouse. She crouched under the thick, green vines and almost tripped on a rock as she stood up. Careful not to bump her head, she slowly walked through the long, dark tunnel and made her way to the large area where many childhood memories were illustrated on the walls. One pair of drawings in particular caught her eye.

It was just a crude drawing. Shortly after she came to the islands and after she and Sora became close, they drew each other's portrait on the cave wall with sharp rocks. She thought it was cute how innocent they were back then. She saw a small rock lying next to her. She studied it for a moment, contemplating on adding to the drawing. She thought of drawing the legendary Paopu Fruit—a yellow, star-shaped fruit—between them. The legend said that if two people shared a Paopu, their lives would become one. The two of them would remain a part of each other's lives no matter what tried to separate them. Not even death could break the bond. She decided against vandalizing the drawing, however. She didn't think her artistic talent had improved much since the early days of her citizenship. Kairi stood up and looked at more of the drawings. She saw another drawing. This one was of a giant castle. She'd drawn it herself, with a little help from Selphie of course. Somehow, she remembered a giant castle just like that one, but she had long since dismissed it as a dream or some childish fantasy. Though, a castle was the only thing Kairi was missing. She was already treated like a queen by her adoptive family and Sora and Riku. The girl was surrounded by many people who loved her, and that was enough for her.

Kairi left the small cavern after reminiscing about her childhood. She scanned the beach and saw Sora lying on the beach, asleep. "I just knew he'd fall asleep," she said under her breath as a grin stretched across her face. She quietly walked over to him and almost jumped when he sat up. Sora yawned and started to lie back down. Kairi hovered over him, waiting for his eyes to open again.

Sora's eyes slowly opened, surprised by the sudden shadow over him. "Whoa," he exclaimed as Kairi burst into an uncontrolled laughter. "Gimme a break, Kairi," he said as he sat up and turned around.

"Sora, you lazy bum," she joked. "I knew I'd find you snoozing down here."

"No, this huge, black thing swallowed me up! I couldn't breathe, I couldn't…ow!" he said as she knocked in on the head lightly.

"Are you still dreaming?" she asked. Sora always had strange dreams, probably due to the foods he ate before bedtime. Whenever they'd talk on the phone, he'd always be eating the greasiest, most unhealthy late-night snacks and Kairi would roll her eyes at his lack of foresight.

"It wasn't a dream! Or…was it? I don't know," he said. Kairi rolled her eyes. "What was that place?" Sora whispered to himself. "So bizarre…"

"Yeah, sure," she said, not believing him. It wouldn't be the first time Sora had confused reality and fantasy, but that was one of the many things Kairi loved about him.

Riku interrupted them, complaining about how neither of them had helped him with the raft. Afterward, he finally got Sora to help him build it, but Kairi stood and watched them as they worked. Though she told everyone she was fine, she was still afraid to do anything strenuous for fear of her disease. She'd almost died once, and didn't want to risk a second attack from the disease.

At the end of the day, the three of them sat on the Paopu tree, watching the sun set and discussing their plans for the next few days. She knew deep down that their lives were going to change, but she had no idea of the chaos that was to come. They would accomplish their goal of reaching new worlds, but it would be nothing like they had in mind. Kairi took a deep breath as she sat with the boys she loved more than her own life and enjoyed the last, little calm before the hurricane that would destroy her world.

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><p>Author's Note: Not very long, I know, but it was just an idea that I needed to get out of my head. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to check out eolhcsullivan452's stories. Until next time, friends...<p> 


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